The Liverpool Plywood Terminal opens 31st October 2014 and will lower costs for construction firms working in the north of the UK.

Barely six months after Peel Ports struck a deal with Westfal-Larsen Shipping to bring combined shipments of steel and plywood into the Port of Liverpool on a new Far East service, Peel Ports is to open the new Liverpool Plywood Terminal.

Operational from 31st October, the Terminal will be an 80,000 sq. ft. temperature-controlled warehouse on the quayside at Seaforth and it will radically reduce costs and increase efficiency for construction firms operating in the north of the UK.

Plywood is essential for the British construction industry but is not manufactured in the UK. Instead, demand from builders and merchants is met entirely from imports, predominantly from the Far East via the Port of Tilbury. The product is then distributed nationally by road or rail, adding cost and contributing to carbon emissions.

The new investment at the Port of Liverpool, the UK’s most central deep water port, will challenge this wasteful model, help rebalance the UK economy and allow firms anywhere north of the Midlands to benefit from substantial cost savings.

Roy Merryweather, business development manager at Peel Ports said:

“This is an opportunity for us to increase our share of a growing market. The construction sector beyond London and the southeast is finally emerging from recession and expanding rapidly and as a result we have seen substantial UK-wide increase in demand for plywood.

“Our decision to invest in this new, bespoke terminal reflects our commitment to customers and our determination to reinforce the strategic importance of the Port of Liverpool.

“We talk to our customers regularly and seek to use our assets and expertise to help them to optimise their supply chains. The Liverpool Plywood Terminal is a great supply chain solution because it allows imported plywood to be distributed to sites north of Birmingham without costly road and rail transport, allowing our customers to benefit from substantial cost and carbon savings.

“The Port of Liverpool routinely and expertly handles a diverse range of cargos and the proximity of this dedicated new terminal to the quayside will allow for fast and easy discharge of the bulk commodity. The Liverpool Plywood Terminal will employ 30 existing members of staff.”